Some were long overdue. Some were not surprising at all. We dive deep into the 10 PBA players who have been named to the league’s 50 greatest list.
The Philippine Basketball Association (PBA) has announced the 10 players who will be completing the league’s 50 greatest list.
The announcement, which came on Wednesday, kicks off the PBA’s celebration of its 50th anniversary.
Here’s the complete list of the 10 players, in alphabetical order:
Nelson Asaytono
Jeffrey Cariaso
June Mar Fajardo
Bong Hawkins
Abe King
Danny Seigle
Scottie Thompson
Arnie Tuadles
Manny Victorino
Yoyoy Villamin
No surprises here
Fajardo and Thompson
Since the PBA has been consistent with its unwritten rule of naming all MVP winners to their list of greatest players, it came as no surprise that eight-time MVP June Mar Fajardo and 2022 MVP Scottie Thompson were named. Even if no rule was in place, Fajardo undoubtedly deserved to be named to the list on the strength of his MVP awards alone.
Overdue recognition
Asaytono, King and Tuadles
Among the 10 added, these three names stood out because there are solid arguments for them to have been included in the 25 and 40 greatest lists.
Asaytono won seven championships and was an unstoppable scorer during his heyday in the mid-to-late 1990s. He scored over 10,000 points for his career, which spanned 17 seasons and also included seven Mythical Team selections and one scoring title. There was a strong argument for him to be named to the 40 greatest.
“Alam na natin yung talent ng tao,” said Benjie Paras of Asaytono. “Very versatile. He can shoot from the outside. He can post up. He can do whatever he wants. Malakas yung katawan ng tao. And I am so happy na nakasama siya.”
Paras said Asaytono should have been named much earlier, when the league announced its top 25 players.
“No question about it. Pero syempre that’s how it goes. That’s why we formed this committee to do the voting.”
King and Tuadles were perhaps the most glaring omissions to the 25 greatest list. King played 18 seasons and won 13 titles with three different franchises. Tuadles was named Rookie of the Year in 1979 and was the first rookie to be named to the Mythical Five. He won nine championships with the Toyota and Great Taste/Presto franchises.
Their coach with Toyota, Dante Silverio, was a member of the selection committee, and he is glad that his former players finally got the recognition they deserve.
“I think they are both deserving for this selection. I don’t think they can be forgotten. Their statistics will tell the truth.”
King was a unanimous choice among the nine members of the selection committee.
Allan Caidic, the 1990 PBA MVP, said Tuadles was definitely deserving of the nod. The two were teammates on two champion teams with Great Taste/Presto.
“Actually, I mentioned na he’s one of my idols. Looking back, ito yung isang malaking impact din sa amin kasi he’s the first rookie na naging member ng Mythical 5. Second si Ricky Brown. And third ako. So parang yung direction, galing kay Arnie.”
Could also have been named earlier
Cariaso, Hawkins and Seigle
Talk about winners in the PBA, and Cariaso and Hawkins should be right up there. Both were vital cogs in the Alaska Milkmen’s 1996 Grand Slam and by the time they retired Cariaso had won eight titles and Hawkins 10. There is certainly a strong argument for both to have been named to the 40 greatest 10 years ago.
Seigle was still playing when the 40 greatest list came out in 2015, but certainly his body of work by then would have merited his inclusion. He was an eight-time champion, Rookie of the Year, and four-time Finals MVP.
Ode to the veterans
Victorino and Villamin
At the start of the selection process, PBA commissioner Willie Marcial said he wanted to see players from the league’s early years to be prioritized. It looks like the selection committee heeded his call in naming two talented big men from the 1980s.
Victorino won six championships, all with the Great Taste/Presto franchise, and was a three-time Mythical Five selection. He averaged over 13 points and 6 rebounds for his career, which spanned over 700 games. Villamin, nicknamed “The Bicolano Superman,” won nine championships with Crispa and Swift. He was a bullstrong power forward who was named to the All-Defensive Team seven times.
Caidic pointed out that Villamin and Victorino were so good that both were named to a “protected list” in the 1980s along with Mon Fernandez and Abet Guidaben. Members of this list were not allowed to be teammates to balance the league. In the end, Caidic felt the rule deprived Victorino and Villamin of more championshis.
“Imagine na-deprive yung dalawa. If we’re talking of championships, awards, recognition, na-deprive yung dalawa. Imagine kung nagsama sila sa isang team baka mas maraming championships sila nakuha.
“So technically, deserving sila talaga to be there para sa akin. Yan yung mindset ko kung bakit napasama sila. Kasi majority naman, halos lahat nandun sila.”
Banner Images from Sid Ventura.